Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 17

David Cowan Dobson
Portrait of a Lady in Turquoise Dress - Scottish female portrait oil painting

Circa 1950

About the Item

This superb British portrait oil painting is by noted Scottish artist David Cowan Dobson, better known as Cowan Dobson. Painted circa 1950 it is a bust length oil painting of a sophisticated and stylish blonde lady. She is wearing an off the shoulder turquoise chiffon dress with matching turquoise drop earrings that compliment her blue eyes. Her assured smile and red lipstick suggest wealth and confidence. The brushwork and style is unmistakeably Cowan Dobson and it is signed lower left. A wonderful vibrant and bold Scottish society portrait by a much noted portrait artist and an excellent example of his work. Signed lower left. Provenance: Suffolk estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 24 inches by 20 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt frame, 31 inches by 27 inches and in good condition. David Cowan Dobson (1894–1980), referred to as 'Cowan' Dobson ARBA (1919), RBA (1922), was a leading Scottish portrait artist of his day. Dobson was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, the second son of the Scottish portrait painter Henry John Dobson (1858–1928).Dobson started his career in Scotland. He was educated at George Watson's College in Edinburgh and studied art in Edinburgh, London and Paris. In 1918 he was using his father's studio at Dalry. Around 1920 he moved to London and from then on he worked and resided mainly in London. Occasionally, he would work in and around Glasgow. He is said to have rented Kenmure Castle, in New Galloway, Kirkcudbrightshire, in the 1930s and 1940s to entertain and paint fashionable sitters. Dobson mainly worked in oils but also painted some fine water-colour scenes. He painted in the tradition of the academic nineteenth century with mostly a rather darker colour scheme, while his brother Henry, influenced by the Modernist movement in Edinburgh, painted more colourful portraits. Although he painted some fine portraits of well known men, like Earl Attlee, Earl Beatty and Harold Wilson, Dobson also portrayed "fashionable London ladies". Dobson was married to Phyllis Bowyer, who was the brains behind his financial success. She made Dobson one of London's leading society portrait painters. She herself sat for the photographer Alexander Bassano, the resulting portrait now being at the National Portrait Gallery, London. During World War I, Dobson was commissioned by the Royal Air Force section of the Imperial War Museum to paint portraits of three recipients of the Victoria Cross. Dobson painted portraits of Lt. Col. L.W. Brabazon Rees, Sgt Mottershead and Flight Lt. A.W. Beauchamps-Proctor. Dobson first exhibited at Royal Academy when aged only nineteen and began showing at the Royal Scottish Academy four years later. Dobson's works were also exhibited at the Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Water-colourers, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Cambrian Academy, Fine Art Society and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Dobson enjoyed significant commercial success and thirty-six of his paintings, almost all portraits, are held in UK public collections including Glasgow Museums, The National Galleries of Scotland, Imperial War Museum, Paisley Art Institute and the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge and Newcastle.
  • Creator:
    David Cowan Dobson (1894 - 1980, British)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1950
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 27 in (68.58 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU853113069942
More From This SellerView All
  • Portrait of Hope G. Simpson - British 1952 art female portrait oil painting
    By Gerald Leslie Brockhurst
    Located in London, GB
    This superb British realist portrait oil painting is by noted artist Gerald Leslie Brockhurst. It was painted in 1952 when Brockhurst was in his sixties and living in America since 1939. The sitter is Hope G. Simpson. The painting is a half length portrait of a striking blonde woman in a blue buttoned up Chinese style garment. It is a strong portrait with bold colours and confident brushwork and an excellent example of his work. Signed and dated 1952 lower right. Provenance. Hiram Hoelzer New York label verso. Portraits Inc. East Street new York. Label verso. Condition. Oil on canvas, 30 inches by 25 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in its original wooded frame, 37 inches by 32 inches and in good condition. Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890-1978) was a British painter and etcher. Brockhurst was born in the Edgbaston district of Birmingham on 31 October 1890, son of a coal merchant called Arthur Brockhurst, he soon showed precocious drawing skills and entered the Birmingham School of Art at the age of twelve. A pupil at the Royal Academy Schools in 1907, he won the gold medal and a travelling scholarship in 1913, enabling him to visit both France and Italy. This led to a closer study of such 15th-century artists as Piero della Francesca, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, whose work had an abiding influence on him. In 1914 he married for the first time to a Frenchwoman, Anaïs Folin, whom he used as the model for most of his early etchings of young womanhood (especially from 1920 till 1934). From 1915 to 1919 Brockhurst and his wife Anaïs lived in Ireland, where they were friendly with the artist Augustus John and his circle. Though he tried his hand at etching in 1914, it was not until 1920 that he began his career as an etcher in earnest, eventually achieving success as both a printmaker and society portraitist. Brockhurst held his first important exhibition in 1919, in London, and after it was well received returned to live there. In 1921 he was one of the early members of the newly-formed Society of Graphic Art and exhibited with them. Throughout the 1930s he continued an increasingly successful career as a portrait artist, with notable sitters including the film stars Merle Oberon and Marlene Dietrich, as well as the Duchess of Windsor, whose husband commissioned her portrait. In 1937 Brockhurst was elected to the Royal Academy and was able to command a price of 1,000 guineas for a portrait. In the same year however details of his relationship with his young model Kathleen Woodward, whom he had renamed Dorette, were made public after she gave an interview to the Sunday Express. Brockhurst's marriage had previously come under strain in 1922 when his wife discovered his adultery with her sister, Marguerite, and now broke down acrimoniously, with Brockhurst counter-suing on the grounds of his wife's adultery. In August 1939 Brockhurst and Dorette moved to the United States, and he was eventually divorced from his first wife in 1940. He married Kathleen in 1947. In New York City, Brockhurst became both famous and rich with a series of society portraits but his printmaking output diminished, especially his etchings. He produced a few lithographs at the end of his career (around 1945). In 1951, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member. In 1958, he appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel...
    Category

    1950s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Grandma and Grand Daughter in an Interior - British 40's Portrait oil painting
    By Anthony Devas
    Located in London, GB
    This lovely British interior portrait oil painting is by noted British artist Anthony Devas. Painted circa 1940 the painting is of a seated grandmother and grand daughter in a lovely...
    Category

    1940s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • The Evening of Life - Interior Portrait - British 1906 Newlyn Sch oil painting
    By Walter Langley
    Located in London, GB
    This stunning, large British Edwardian Newlyn School interior portrait oil painting is by much noted and exhibited artist Walter Langley. Originally from Birmingham, Langley and his ...
    Category

    Early 1900s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Portrait of a Girl with Hat - Scottish 1919 art oil painting Edinburgh artist
    Located in London, GB
    This Lovely Scottish portrait oil painting is by noted portrait artist James Bell Anderson who worked out of his studio in Glasgow. It was painted in 1919 and is signed and dated. It...
    Category

    1910s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • The School Room - Flemish 19th century art interior genre oil painting children
    By Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder
    Located in London, GB
    This charming Flemish genre oil painting is attributed to Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder. Painted circa 1850 it is a fine realist genre scene of the interior of a school room, a t...
    Category

    19th Century Realist Interior Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Portrait of Major General Harding Steward - British 19thC military oil painting
    By Edyth Starkie
    Located in London, GB
    This striking British 19th century portrait oil painting is by noted established Irish female artist Edyth Starkie. She studied at the Slade School as well as the Académie Julian in ...
    Category

    19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

You May Also Like
  • Cuauhtémoc, signed oil painting
    By Louis Letouche
    Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
    Cuauhtémoc, 1982 by Louis Letouche (French 1924-2015) oil painting on linen canvas, stretched over board framed Framed size: 15 x 21.75 inches Superb oil painting by the well listed French marine artist Louis Letouche (1924-2015). The painting portrays the 20th Century ship titled: Cuauhtemoc, 1982. ARM Cuauhtémoc is a sail training vessel of the Mexican Navy, named for the last Mexica Hueyi Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc who was captured and executed in 1525. She is the last of four sister...
    Category

    1990s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • [Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Man from Below
    By Mark Beard
    Located in New York, NY
    Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.l. 10 x 8 inches, canvas size 12.75 x 10.75 inches in black painted wood frame This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Bruce...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Danube, signed oil painting
    By Louis Letouche
    Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
    Danube, 1855-1878 by Louis Letouche (French 1924-2015) oil painting on linen canvas, stretched over board framed Framed size: 14 x 19 inches Superb oil painting by the well listed...
    Category

    1990s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • The Cardinal Fine Antique Portrait Oil Painting in Ornate Gilt Frame
    By Otto Eichinger
    Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
    The Cardinal's Letter Otto Eichinger (1922 - 2004) signed oil painting on board, framed framed: 15 x 12 inches board: 12.5 x 10 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: v...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Armenian Contemporary Art by Kamsar Ohanyan - Sofia with Sunflowers
    By Kamsar Ohanyan
    Located in Paris, IDF
    Oil on canvas
    Category

    2010s Realist Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Red Bandana - XXI Century, Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Portrait
    By Tomasz Kozlowski
    Located in Warsaw, PL
    Tomasz Kozlowski is a Polish artist, born in 1983 in Piotrkow Trybunalski, He lives and works in Lodz. He studied at the faculty of textiles and fashion of the Fine Arts School in Lo...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All